Transformations and Transfiguration

By: Jasmine

Chapter 5

"Trapped"

"Good Lord, Prongs. How could you fall for such a witch!" Sirius exclaimed, his quill scratching back and forth across his parchment as he tried his best to finish his homework before 8 o'clock. He had an "appointment" with Professor McGonagall, as she referred to it, or detention each night of the week, all credit going to Lily for informing Professor McGonagall about the few droplets of potion Sirius had slipped into Jasmine's pumpkin juice during dinner without notice.

"She's an angel who believes in doing the right thing." James replied, unwrapping a chocolate frog and popping it into his mouth before it hopped away. Sirius glared, laying down his quill on the table so hard his ink bottle fell over, ink splattering all over his parchment. Sirius stood up, yelling in frustration, grabbing his hair. "Who knows? Maybe she wants you two to get together in all honesty." Sirius's glare intensified, his electric blue eyes wide.

"It's a possibility." Remus voiced, looking up from his book, his textbooks stacked up next to his chair, all waiting to be read.

"Quit taking his side, Moony. It isn't going to get you anywhere." Remus shrugged Sirius off, returning his gaze his textbook. Sirius, unable to do anything more, sat back down rather calmly and finished the rest of his essay, quite proud he'd done so for he wasn't one to do his homework the day it was assigned. He would actually do it ten minutes before class began and smart talk his way out of a failing grade, coming up with an extraordinary excuse explaining how he'd either just miraculously overcome a deadly disease, saved the lives of a group of uneducated tribes, or something similar. It was a wonder all his stories had been believed.

Just as Sirius stood once again, this time in triumph, his paper held in his hands, Lily and Jasmine come down the dormitory stairs, laughing until they set sight upon the group of boys sitting around the fire. They both glared menacingly at them, Jasmine's glare stronger. It seems Lily had just finished informing Jasmine of Sirius's behavior. The two strode away without a word, their glares still stinging Sirius's mind. He placed his parchment in his bag before turning toward James, opening his mouth to complain only to find he was not there.

It turns out James had followed the girls out the portrait hole, wondering where they were headed to because dinner had finished hours ago. He slowed his pace, staying close enough to hear what they were saying, but far enough so he had a good hideout in case they turned his way. They were speaking in muffled whispers at the moment, James straining his ears to hear. It was Jasmine who spoke up first. "The bastard. I can't even remember what I did for the last four hours."

"That's what a love potion's supposed to do to you. That way the one who gave it to you can do what they want and you'll have no memory of it." Lily replied, not noticing what she'd said. Then, the two stiffened, realizing what that could mean. "B-but don't worry. I don't think anything that bad happened. I doubt he even had the guts to kiss you." Lily reassured. Jasmine's expression relaxed, but Lily's stayed stiff.

The two walked on in silence. Truth be told, the two had nowhere to go. The only reason they'd come down from their dorms was because Jasmine had insisted on wanting to glare at Sirius, her hatred for him higher than even expected, and Lily wanted to escape from Mae, who'd been sitting on her four poster with Hailey, the two scheming ways of getting Sirius Black and James Potter to go out with them. When Lily voiced her disgust for this aloud, James grinned. Hailey was very pretty, her dirty blonde hair falling to her shoulders and her soft green eyes easy to drown in, though not as beautiful as Lily's, James told himself.

James lost sight of the girls as they turned a corner, and he paused before doing so himself, listening for footsteps. He heard none, however, and came to the conclusion that they hadn't stopped but had gone too far to be able to be heard. Nodding his head, James turned the corner. He gasped quietly, Lily and Jasmine barely three feet away, and ran into the nearest empty classroom as they turned their heads, looking for the source of the sound. "Let's split up." Lily suggested.

Jasmine took all the classrooms to their right, and Lily the ones to their left, both opening each classroom and looking around. Once they were sure there was no one in there, they returned to the corridor, locking the door behind them in case they'd made a mistake. Lily walked into the exact classroom James was in, and he cursed at himself for not getting his invisibility cloak. He hid inside of an empty closet behind the teacher's desk, closing the door quietly. Lily crouched down, looking underneath the desks. She stood, a disappointed expression dawning upon her face.

She exited the classroom, the lock clicking behind her. James paused, listening for any sound, and came out of the closet when he was sure they were long gone. He ran to the door, turning the doorknob to find it was not going to budge, the locking charm holding it tightly shut. "Damn." He cursed at himself again, this time for not bringing his wand.

"Have you seen James?" Remus asked Lily the next morning at breakfast, Sirius sniffing disapprovingly, staring at the wall instead of the girls both because he was not in the mood of seeing Lily and because he was afraid of what Jasmine would do if he even dared to turn his gaze upon her.

"No, I haven't. Not since last night, anyway." Lily replied, shrugging her shoulders, failing to look worried. It did not affect her if James was missing or not, or so she thought. Throughout the day, Lily felt an odd sense of loss, the absence of James's taunts finally getting to her. She tried to assure herself that this was what life would be like without James. "It's much better without him." She told herself zealously under her breath as she and Jasmine strode down an empty corridor, the same one they'd passed the night before. They'd decided to take a detour this time, partly because they wanted to familiarize themselves with the many classrooms and corridors of Hogwarts better, and partly because Jasmine had no intention of walking with Sirius to their next class, listening to his pathetic attempts at an apology.

"Who?" said Jasmine, turning toward Lily. The two locked eyes for a second before spinning around abruptly, a hard knock coming from an empty classroom catching their attention. The two cautiously made their way toward it, listening for any other sound, whipping out their wands. Jasmine looked at Lily, who nodded, and said, "Who's there?" Her voice cracked.

"Unlock the door!" cried a male voice, which cracked as well. He hammered at the door again, the bang weaker this time. Jasmine jumped backward, the thump taking her by surprise.

Lily, however, move forward, her eyes narrowed. "Potter...?" She whispered lightly, advancing toward the door. The beating ceased abruptly. "Potter, is that you?"

"Oh shit." said James under his breath from the other side of the door. There was a pause, both awaiting the other's reply. Then, James, knowing there wasn't going to be one from Lily, spoke up rather nervously. "Er... heh. Hey there, Evans. Mind opening the door for me? Seems I'm locked in."

"How'd you get locked in?" Lily asked suspiciously, tapping her wand on the door softly, causing it to become transparent. She backed away, as did James, gazing intensely at him, her emerald eyes blazing. "Unless you were the one eavesdropping on us last night!" She pointed an accusatory finger at him, her eyes calculating.

"Now wait a—" James began apprehensively, backing off slightly.

"Why else would you be locked in there? This is the same way we came last night!" Lily interrupted, Jasmine coming to her side, her gray eyes stormy.

"Why else would you be locked up without a wand?" Jasmine added matter-of-factly.

James looked from one girl to the other, knowing there was no escape. He threw his hands up in defeat and asked sympathetically, "Okay, okay. I did. I'm sorry. Will you let me out now? I'm starving. I haven't eaten since last night."

However, the girls felt no pity for the boy. The pair smirked at each other before Lily replied, "Actually, we don't really feel like letting you out."

"Well, we're going to be late for class if we don't hurry." Jasmine said, her grin as evil as Lily's. The two hauled their bags onto their shoulders again and set off, Jasmine yelling, "Bye now!" waving her hand behind her. The girls' laughter was drowned out by James's groan as he slid down the translucent door, its wood becoming visible once more.

"This is too much, Moony. He's tried skipping class before, but never like this!" Sirius exclaimed that night, his quill whizzing across his parchment. His eyes were low, deep in thought, flicking back and forth between his textbook and essay. Without looking up, he continued, "I think it's time we go find him."

"Agreed." Remus replied, shutting his own textbook and setting it down. He ran up to the boys' dormitories and returned a few minutes later with a ragged yellowing piece of parchment in hand, his gaze concentrated upon it. He sat down, removing his textbook from the chair. "Found him. C'mon let's g—" A bell rang, signaling nine o'clock. No students were allowed out of their common rooms now, and prefects were to remain there as well until given orders otherwise from teachers or the Head Boy or Girl.

"It's all right. I'll go." said Sirius, rising to his feet and putting his things away. "I'll have to go to detention anyway." Remus made to give him the map, but Sirius shook his head. "McGonagall doesn't allow me to bring my wand. She makes me do lines... evil." He paused for a second, his eyes glassed over. "Anyway, just tell me where he is and I'll go get him." Remus pointed to the small dot labeled 'James Potter' on the map. Sirius nodded. "Ok... well, I'm off." He exited the common room.

James lay spread-eagled on the ground, the desks pushed to the sides of the room. He wasn't sure when he'd be able to get out. Hopefully someone would've realized he was missing by now and come to look for him. He groaned for nearly the thousandth time that night.

As if in answer to his unasked question, a smug voice said through the door, "Oy, mate. Enjoying yourself in there?"

"Sirius!" James bellowed, standing so quickly he sent a chair flying. Without a care as to what had been in the glass jar he'd just shattered, he ran to the door yelling, "C'mon, Padfoot. Unlock the door. I haven't eaten in over a day! You should be able to sympathize with me! Evans and her evil friend know I'm in here!"

"Evans...?" said Sirius quietly, his hands in his pockets. Then, he replied, "Er... Prongs? How exactly have you been—going to the bathroom?"

"What!" James exclaimed, unable to believe what he was hearing. He, however, could hear Sirius's foot tapping, so he said, "There's a lavatory here, if you must know. Now lemme OUT!"

"No can do, mate." Sirius said curtly. "I don't have my wand with me. I'm on my way to dentition with McGonagall to... go write lines." He said the last part with a touch of bitterness. "I'll come back for you, Prongs. 'Later!" He ran off, now extremely late for detention.

"No! NO!" James yelled, banging on the door, sliding down it for the second time that day. "Dammit."

Well, there you go. What d'you think? Well, don't stop reading yet! Expect something very interesting in Chapter 6. I've already got it planned, and I'm sure you'll love it! Keep returning for updates. I'll tell you now that I won't be putting up chapter 6 this week, though. I've got exams, as mentioned in previous chapters, so... yeah... I have to study. Well, I'm off to do just that! Buh-bye!

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P.S.Special thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed my story. I love the feedback and can definitely use more.